GA4 is Google Analytics 4 – the latest version of Google Analytics. It is not an updated version of Google Analytics but an entirely fresh approach to collecting, storing, and filtering data gathered about site visitors and customers. It creates a detailed scope of the entire user journey – from the moment they first visit your site to when they leave, transact, or engage.
Ultimately, this is Google’s response to rising privacy concerns, stepping away from the cookie and IP address-based measurement approach, differing greatly from the current version of Universal Analytics. The features aim to aid businesses in better understanding their site visitors with insights that direct attention to weak spots in marketing strategies. These insights will help businesses build on and tweak their existing platform in the most productive and lucrative ways.
Why Do You Need GA4?
GA4 comes with loads of beneficial features that offer insights that allow you to observe, analyze, and adjust the entire customer journey of your business, such as: Tracking where your site visitors come from
Tracking how your site visitors navigate site pages
Tracking which URLs draw in traffic
Tracking which URLs draw in repeat visits
Tracking which content drives engagement
Tracking which content drives conversions, and so much more.
On top of that, GA4 is equipped to track other applications, giving you a broader scope of your business’s performance. GA4 includes analytical tools that have customer engagement as the focal point, privacy and tracking features, curated visualizations and reporting, etc.
When Will The GA4 Transition Happen?
However, regardless of its benefits, Google Analytics users don’t have an option when it comes to transitioning over. GA4 will replace Universal Analytics (UA), the current default version of Google Analytics, and all non-GA4 accounts will stop processing new hits after July 1, 2023. If you have not transitioned over by then, you will lose all data and be unable to track further.
